Review: Wicked, Hippodrome

If your idea of a great night out is a big, spectacular show that whacks you around the face with great songs, stunning dancing, gravity-defying stage effects and lavish costumes, then Wicked is the musical for you. It is a precision-tooled piece of entertainment, finely engineered to produce a sure-fire result. It doesn’t put a foot wrong. It never misses a beat. And it’s a massive, internationally tried and tested hit.

The facts and figures speak for themselves. It premiered in the UK in 2006 at London’s Victoria Theatre. Now in it’s 12th year, it has become the 15th longest running show in West End theatre history and been seen by more than 8.5 million people in London alone. It is obviously doing something very right indeed.

Whilst the plot is fundamentally straightforward, it’s not trite. Its launchpad is to weave an alternative story around the classic Wizard of Oz story: part prequel, mostly a re-imagined, parallel universe version, from the witches` point of view. But from there it reaches out to touch on a lot of contemporary themes. Prejudice in all its forms, racial discrimination, disability are all here if you want to seek them out – alongside that distinct theme, found in so much modern popular culture, that the ‘dark side’ of human nature is a lot more intriguing than bland ‘goodness’ – look at everything from Star Wars to Frozen.

Helen Woolf as Glinda. All pics: Matt Crockett

But don’t get carried away. Wicked isn’t Hamlet. The songs are better.

Glinda (played by Helen Woolf) is the good witch who is so infuriatingly airheaded, selfish and perky that after a particularly protracted bout of hair tossing you just want to punch her in the face, while the green-hued Wicked Witch of the West Elphaba (Amy Ross, pictured top) is a resentful, mixed-up, guilt-ridden, much more feisty and interesting character. They first become friends, then rivals, then friends again before an unseen Dorothy finally brings their relationship to an abrupt end in a way that probably requires at least a passing knowledge of the movie (but no spoilers from me).

These two actresses perform brilliantly. Their voices harmonise wonderfully and build to huge crescendos on the songs that closely resemble modern Disney music, and which are delivered with great gusto and attack from the moment the curtain goes up.

Helen Woolf as Glinda and Aaron Sidwell as Fiyero

What you really mustn’t do with Wicked is to check the plot on Wikipedia. I did (luckily after I’d seen the show) and found a storyline so convoluted and complex that I simply didn’t recognise it from the glorious spectacle I’d enjoyed so much a couple of hours earlier. Most over-complicated stories fail to appeal to a mass audience, so I can only imagine a good proportion of the millions who’ve seen the show just sit back and enjoy the music and the terrific stage effects. I strongly recommend this approach.

I may not be a friend of Dorothy, but I’m a big fan of Wicked.

Wicked continues at the Hippodrome until Saturday, March 3. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.atgtickets.com/shows/wicked/bristol-hippodrome